tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post9042734959717986756..comments2024-03-28T15:01:21.285-04:00Comments on SleuthSayers: The Character of CharactersLeigh Lundinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-37348295947537321632016-03-14T21:35:59.571-04:002016-03-14T21:35:59.571-04:00Jessica Fletcher, serial killer… I like that theor...Jessica Fletcher, serial killer… I like that theory. Come to think of it, when Angela Lansbury would adapt that pursed-lip, disapproving ‘puss’, I felt like knocking her off a time or two.<br /><br />I watched a recent Dateline featuring an army couple. The husband arranges to have the wife killed (yeah, big surprise) by his overly loyal brother… really evil. While the wife was serving in the Middle East, she sensed her husband growing more distant as he sank into an affair with someone else. What really broke my heart was when she wrote him to ask if he’d be at the airport to pick her up. At that crushing moment, I could have hated him.<br /><br />Susan, I agree about wanting someone to cheer for. I’ve asked myself more than once why I like Hannibal Lector and oddly, I like him the least when he’s crude, not when he’s killing. How weird is that!Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-16003614039850122152016-03-14T14:43:03.865-04:002016-03-14T14:43:03.865-04:00This is interesting to me because you've inclu...This is interesting to me because you've included the victim. And here's why that interests me: I have never been able to enjoy mysteries in which I feel a connection to the victim as a real and possibly innocent person. Their death disturbs me so deeply that the "game" aspect of the whodunnit evaporates at that moment, and I find the detective or investigator's intellectual pursuit of clues so cold as to be distressing. It even makes me feel upset with the writer, that they have destroyed this innocent character (I didn't say this made logical sense) for the sake of telling a story to make some money. I have no "solution" to this, and I am not saying it's a bad idea to make the victim an important and likable character. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com